Classroom Solutions for Overcrowded Schools

Classroom overcrowding is becoming a bigger and bigger issue for teachers, parents and students alike. It’s a problem in desperate need of a solution, and here some ways that it can be solved.

New Technologies

When schools have their classrooms crowded and full of too many students, keeping them all engaged becomes a big problem. And it’s one that needs to be confronted. One thing that many teachers are finding helps keep students engaged is technology. It can be used in a million different ways though, so which ways work best?

All classrooms should use computers and interactive learning methods so that everyone can get involved with what’s being taught. This can mean using an interactive whiteboard and tablet devices that each student has. This allows students to get involved rather than just get lost in the crowd.

More Teachers

The simplest way that schools can use to cut down on the overcrowding a lot of them are facing is by hiring more teachers. If there are more teachers in the school, then the teacher to pupil ratio will be vastly improved, and class sizes will be slashed. It’s better to have more, but smaller, classes.

This is easier said than done though. A lot of schools in the state sector are finding it difficult to hire more staff and teachers because of budget limits and some cuts in spending. This is something that will, therefore, require larger scale intervention at a national level for the problem to be solved.

Modular Classrooms

For schools in which teacher numbers is not the issue, they usually find that a lack of space and classrooms is the problem. This is just as serious and difficult to combat as a shortage of teachers. It, again, comes down to a shortage of funds and resources. If it were up to most teachers and headteachers, new schools would be built up and down the country.

But this is not an option for most schools. So, what are the alternatives when schools have a lack of space in which to teach. It’s hard to find alternatives, but one of the main options is using modular classrooms. These are pre-fabricated structures that can be transported to the school at quite low costs.

Move Beyond the Classroom

There’s a whole world outside the classroom, and a lot of people claim that the way to combat classroom overcrowding is to get out of the classroom as much as possible. This means taking students on trips and showing them real life experience as often as teachers can, but this can be quite difficult.

Unfortunately, a lot of schools only allow this to happen once or twice a year for most students. But it’s increasingly seen as detrimental to a student’s education to keep them in a classroom too much, especially when those classrooms are overcrowded. Anything that helps broaden students’ horizons is seen as a good thing.

There’s no one size fits all solution to classroom overcrowding, it’s about finding the best solutions for each school. Specific problems need to be addressed first of all.